Switch-lock



(No Model) A. POLLOGK.

SWITCH LOOK.

Patented May 29; 1888.

Wv'fize6sesi Inyenlar:

I 2 WW .N-ITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ALEXANDER POLLOOK, OF NYAOK, NEW YORK.

SWITCH-LOCK.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 383,654. dated May 29, 1888.

Application filed February 1-1, 1888. Serial No. 265,141. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ALEXANDER PoLLooK, of Nyack, in the county of Rockland and State of New York, haveinvented a new and useful Improvementin Locks for Switch-Levers and other Operating Levers, of which the followmg is a specification.

The lever for operating switches, signals, and analogous devices has usually combined with it a sliding catch-bolt which is actuated by a spring to engage lockingnotches in a bar orsegment concentric to the lever-fulcrum,and this sliding catch-bolt is withdrawn from the notches by means of a catch-lever pivoted to the operating-lever and which has the catchbolt connected with it.

The object of my invention is to provide for locking the catch-lever,and therefore the slidmg catch-bolt with which it is connected,by a key or bolt inserted directly through the catchlever; and the invention consists in a novel construction whereby this result is attained.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is an elevation of a switch-stand embodying my invention. Fig. 2 is an edge view of the upper portion of the operating-lever andthe parts which embody my invention. Fig. 3 is a side v1ew,upon a larger scale,of the locking bolt or key which may be employed; and Fig. 4is an edge view of a locking bolt or key of modified form,which may also be employed, if desired.

Similar letters of reference designate corresponding parts in all the figures.

A designates the operating-lever, which is fulcrumed at a,and concentric with the fulcrum a is a segmental locking-bar, B, having in it notches b. The segmental locking-bar B has its ends prolonged downward and connected by a cross-bar, B, which receives the lever fulcrum or pivot a, and the two members B B form the stand for the operatinglever A.

c designates a sliding catch-bolt which is upon the lower end of arod, c, lying along the edge of the operating-lever A and sliding in suitable guides, a. Applied to the rod c,for forcing the bolt a downward, is a spring, 0 and said bolt may be retracted or withdrawn from the notches b by a oatch-lever, O, which is at the side of the handle Aof the operatinglever A. The rod 0 is jointed at c to the catch-lever G, and said catch-lever has upon it cheeks or flanges c, which embrace the operating-lever A, as best shown in Fig. 2, and which receive through them the pivot or fulcrum 0 whereby the catch-lever C is supported upon the operating-lever. To withdraw the lockingbolt c and move the operating-lever, the catch lever O and the handle A of the operating-lever are grasped in the hand, and the catch-lever G is drawn toward said handle, so as to withdraw the bolt 0, and then the operating-lever A may be swung uponits fulcrum a.

According to my invention the cheeks or flanges 0* of the catch-lever C have formed in them a mortise, c, and through this mortise is inserted a locking bolt or key, 0, which engages with the operating-lever A. As here represented the looking bolt or key 0 not only passes through the mortise c in the cheeks or flanges 0, but also passes directly through a mortise in the operating-lever A. Oonsequently when the parts are in the position shown in Figs. 1 and 2, and the locking bolt or key 0 is inserted through the mortise c in the cheeks c, the catch-lever 0 cannot swing upon its fulcrum o but is locked and held in rigid relation to the operating-lever A, and therefore the catch-bolt 0 cannot be withdrawn. When it is desired to operate'the lever A, the locking bolt orkey O is first withdrawn, and then the catchlever O is free to swing upon its fulcrum c and to thus raisethe catch-bolt 0 out of the locking-notch b.

The locking bolt or key is best shown in Fig. 3. It has at one end a shoulder, c forming a head, and by a chain, 0 attached to this head, the said bolt or key may be hung from the operating-lever A.

For greater security, where there is danger of the locking bolt or key 0 being withdrawn by malicious persons, a padlock, D, may be inserted through an eye, 0, in the end of the key or bolt '0, opposite its head; but where no danger is feared from malicious or meddlesome persons the smaller end of the locking bolt or key 0 may be split, as shown at 0 in Fig. 4, so as to prevent it from accidentally working out of place after it has been inserted.

I am aware that prior to my invention various devices applied to the rod 0 of the catchbolt 0 have been employed for locking said rod against longitudinal movement, and therefore I do not claim, broadly, as of my invention means for locking the rod 0 and the catch-1e- Ver 0 against movement relatively to the operating-lever A. According to my invention I apply the locking-bolt 0 directly to the catchlever at a point near its fulcrum 0 and I desire to limit-my invention to a catch-lever having cheeks or flanges which embrace the operating-lever and the locking key or bolt inserted through such checks or flanges and engaging the operating-lever.

What I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

The combination, with the operating-lever A and its notched locking-segment B, of the catch-bolt 0, the catch-lever 0, having checks 1 5 which embrace theoperating-leverand through which the catch'lever is pivoted to the operating-lever, and a loeking key or bolt, as C, inserted through said cheeks and engaging the operating-lever, whereby the swinging 0f the catch-lever on its pivot to withdraw the catchbolt is prevented, substantially as herein described. 7

ALEX. POLLOCK.

Witnesses:

O. HALL, FREDK. HAYNES. 

